Lamborghini Countach

Unveiled at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show, the Countach prototype caused an even bigger shock than the Miura. Marcello Gandini, at Bertone, abandoned curves for a wedge silhouette made of straight lines and facets, which seemed straight out of a science-fiction film.

Its name is said to come from a Piedmontese exclamation of admiration. To distribute the weight better, its V12 was mounted lengthways in the middle of the car, with the gearbox in front of it. Its doors opened upwards like a beetle’s wings, a signature that would become the brand’s own. The production version, the LP400, was delivered from 1974. Over the years it gained wings, wheel-arch extensions and an ever more powerful engine.

Produced until 1990, with around 2,000 built, the Countach became the icon of the 1980s, adorning teenagers’ bedroom walls all over the world. It long defined the image of the extreme supercar.